Having Done (olles teinud)

Level 5

Olles terve päeva töötanud, jäi ta kohe magama means having worked all day, he fell asleep at once. The olles part happened first.

How It Works

The ordinary des-form describes something happening at the same time as the main action: Koju minnes kohtasin sõpra. (Going home, I met a friend.) For something that finished before the main action, use olles plus a participle:

  • olles + -nud: Olles ülikooli lõpetanud, kolis ta Tallinna. (Having graduated from university, she moved to Tallinn.)
  • olles + -tud: Olles üksi koju jäetud, hakkas koer haukuma. (Having been left home alone, the dog started barking.)

The phrase gets a comma, whether it comes first or last.

The doer of the olles part must be the subject of the main sentence. In the first example, she graduated and she moved.

olles can often be left out, and the meaning stays the same: Töö lõpetanud, läks ta koju. (Having finished work, he went home.)

This construction belongs to written and formal Estonian. In speech, people usually say it with a clause or a noun:

  • Kui ta oli ülikooli lõpetanud, kolis ta Tallinna.
  • Pärast ülikooli lõpetamist kolis ta Tallinna.

Examples (5)

  1. Olles terve päeva töötanud, jäi ta kohe magama.

    Having worked all day, he fell asleep right away.

    Word by Word: being all day worked, fell he at-once asleep

  2. Olles ülikooli lõpetanud, kolis ta Tallinna.

    Having graduated from university, she moved to Tallinn.

  3. Olles üksi koju jäetud, hakkas koer haukuma.

    Having been left home alone, the dog started barking.

    With the -tud form, the subject is the one something was done to.

  4. Ta lahkus koosolekult varem, olles oma ettekande lõpetanud.

    She left the meeting early, having finished her presentation.

    The olles phrase can also come after the main sentence.

  5. Töö lõpetanud, läks ta koju.

    Having finished work, he went home.

    Here olles is left out. The -nud form alone gives the same meaning.

Common Mistakes

  • Letting the olles phrase describe someone who is not the subject.

    Olles koju jõudnud, helistas ema mulle.
    Kui ma olin koju jõudnud, helistas ema mulle.

    Intended meaning: after I got home, Mom called me. The olles phrase is always about the subject, so the first sentence says that Mom got home. When the doers are different, use a kui-clause.

  • Using a normal past-tense verb after olles.

    Olles lõpetas töö, läks ta koju.
    Olles töö lõpetanud, läks ta koju.

    olles needs the -nud or -tud form, not the simple past lõpetas, and the phrase has no subject of its own.

How It Connects

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Having Done (olles teinud)Level 5

Learn This First

The des-form past is olles plus -nud or -tud.

Words in This Pattern

ollesolema-nud